Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto: Sage's Apprentice
by Ayame77
Summary: Naruto Uzumaki. Intuitive. Creative. Determined. Apprenticed to Jiraiya. Likes: ramen, training and fuinjutsu. Dislikes: Bullies and waiting. Dream: to become the greatest Hokage. Naruto, holding the Yin half of the Kyuubi, sets out on a journey to discover his true self, find people who believe in him, and protect them no matter what. But first he must believe in himself. NaruSaku
1. Intro - Uzumaki Naruto

Intent blue eyes roamed over faded pages methodically, soaking in the information and moving on. The young boy's small hands flipped the pages in a crisp rhythm, pausing occasionally to push uncooperative golden bangs from his field of view. A knock on the small apartment's door caused him to jump and drop his book. Short legs were swung off the lumpy mattress he had previously occupied and carried him swiftly towards the dented wooden door. The boy threw the door open and slammed into the body of the man on the other side.

"Jiji-sama!"

"Good morning, Naruto-kun. How are you today?"

"I'm great! That book you gave me is really interesting, 'ttebayo!"

"I'm glad you like it, Naruto-kun."

"Yep! So Jiji-sama, why're you here? Usually if I want to see you I have to come to your office."

"I need an excuse?"

"No, but I know you and you don't do much of anything without a reason."

"You got me there. I'm here to give you your monthly allowance and also your Academy application forms."

"Oh, cool! So I finally get to go to the Academy!"

"Almost. You still need to get your application approved."

"I guess that makes sense. Do I have to complete any prerequisites for attending then?"

"No, none of that. They just need to do a background check."

"Background check? Why do they need to do that?"

"Basically they check that you have no malicious intent and that you have been in the village for at least five years or since you were born if you're younger than that."

"So it's to weed out spies?"

"Pretty much."

"Ok, I'll have the forms filled out by tomorrow. What should I do where it says 'parent signature' though? I…"

"I'll sign those."

"Thanks Jiji-sama. Ano, can I have another book to read?"

"Sure Naruto-kun. Anything in particular?"

"I dunno. Something about all the different Hokages or something? I really like reading about all the different Hokages and what they did."

"I've already given you five books about that, Naruto."

"I know, but it's really cool, 'ttebayo! I still don't understand exactly how the Yondaime killed Kyuubi," Sarutobi flinched, "or how the Nidaime invented Edo Tensei, or about the Yondaime's life apart from his achievements, or you and your genin team when your sensei was the Nidaime. There's so many details I can still learn! I don't just want to know about what all the Hokages did, I want to know about who they were, their ideals, all that."

"Why don't I give you this then? These are the journals of all the Hokages, including me. They will give notes on jutsu, personal feelings and thoughts, and a perspective on history that you couldn't get any other way." Sarutobi knew it was risky to give him these, but it was the best he could do for the kid. He summoned four slender books with worn covers and handed them to the boy.

"Wow! Jiji-sama, how'd you get all these? This is awesome!" Naruto flipped open the cover of the fourth book, a dark navy one with golden embroidery, and gently ran his fingertips over the smooth creamy paper. "Just… wow. It's actually in his handwriting, too…" Sarutobi smiled. It was refreshing to see Naruto so excited. But there was one thing he had to know before he handed them over for good.

"Naruto-kun." Naruto's head snapped up at the strict tone. "I need you to tell me honestly, Naruto-kun, why do you want to be Hokage?" Sarutobi questioned. Naruto seemed to go into deep thought and it was a few minutes before he answered.

"When everyone looks at you, they look at you with awe and respect. You protect them and they follow you. They believe in you. The Fourth Hokage gave his life to protect this village, so did the Nidaime and Shodaime. They were strong, brave, selfless, well-respected…they were everything I want to be. You…you're like the grandfather I never had. You're the grandfather to the entire village; you don't just protect them, you inspire them. I…I want to be that person. I guess you could say it's selfish, that all I want is for them to look up to me…but I'm just so sick of being looked down on. I want to be be the person that inspires young academy students, that is respected by everyone in the village, that risks their life to protect the village. I want to prove to them that I can be their hero, not just an invisible kid. I…I want…I want them to love me…" He trailed off, looking down at the ground, tears welling in his eyes. Sarutobi smiled fondly and nodded to himself, placing a comforting hand on Naruto's shoulder. The boy had a long way to go, but his intentions were pure.

"I wish you luck, Naruto-kun. Learn from those before you and always keep your strong heart. I'm sure you will find people who believe in you, in time." Naruto looked up, the tears beginning to run down his cheeks.

"Jiji, you don't know how much that means…I swear I won't let you down. I will be the hero of this village, no matter what. I'll protect everyone in the village, and I'll find the people who believe in me. I'll become their Hokage, the best Hokage ever, 'ttebayo!"

"I'm sure you will, Naruto-kun." Naruto threw his arms around the old Hokage and sobbed. It was a full ten minutes before he pulled away, wiping his eyes on his sleeve.

"Sorry…I didn't mean to start crying…"

"It's alright, Naruto-kun, sometimes even the strongest people need to let out their feelings." Naruto nodded, then tilted his head to the side.

"Even you?"

"Yes, even me, Naruto-kun."

Naruto smiled. "I'm glad it's not just me…"

"Naruto-kun, no matter how it feels, remember this. You are never alone."

"Ok, Jiji-sama."

"I have to go. Here are your forms and I look forward to seeing you at the Academy."

"Thanks. I'm going to do my best!" Sarutobi stood up walked out the door, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

* * *

The next day, Naruto was up early and out the door. He wove his way unnoticed through the busy morning streets, a stack of papers clutched to his chest. He darted past the Hokage's secretary, who yelled at him to slow down, and made his way to the office door. He was about to turn the nob when he stopped short. Inside the room he could hear voices, many voices.

"We can't let that demon brat into our Academy!" said the high, screeching voice of a woman Naruto didn't know.

"And why not?" Sarutobi responded calmly.

"He's a danger to the other children! What if that…"

"Don't."

"It's not necessarily him, I just don't trust that he could control…"

"What did I say about not mentioning that?"

"Sorry Hokage-sama. With all due respect, if that boy attends the academy, I will withdraw my son."

"I second that, Hokage-sama," chorused a second woman.

"I will do the same," a third voice, this one a male's, chimed in.

"That sounds appropriate," yet another unknown voice agreed.

"Okay, I think I can safely say that if it is at the Academy, no civilian children will be in attendance until it is gone," the first voice stated confidently.

"I suppose I have no choice then. He will not attend the Academy," the Hokage sighed, resigned.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama. You have all our deepest gratitude."

"I did not do this for you, not when you fall so easily to fear and refuse to question your prejudice. I did this so he will not have to deal with unfair judgement from anyone."

"Hokage-sama! I already said it's not the boy's fault, it's just…"

"No need to argue, the decision has been made. You will get your wish, even if not for the reason you want."

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

Naruto turned and ran; he didn't need to hear anymore to know they were talking about him. The only person he'd ever heard called 'demon brat' and 'that thing' was himself. 'Why did Jiji give in so easily? Why didn't he defend me and tell them I'm not a demon? I'm not, am I? He told me he believed I would be Hokage one day, has he just been trying to get me to trust him? How will I become Hokage when I can't even go to the Academy and be a ninja? I don't understand it…' He ran and ran, his feet moving without his brain, carrying him to the one place he felt truly safe, the head of his hero, the Yondaime. He sat on his idol's stone head, staring out across the village. 'What would you do, Yondaime-sama? I don't know what to do. I thought that Jiji…I thought that Sandaime-sama believed in me…I…I don't have anyone anymore…I can't even go to the Academy…how will I become the greatest Hokage ever? Can I even be a ninja? Please…help me…'

'You need to believe in yourself.'

'Yondaime-sama?' Naruto questioned, surprised by the voice in his head. No one answered. 'I must've imagined it. I wanted to talk to him so bad…'

* * *

Naruto lay on his mattress, staring at the chipping ceiling. Thoughts flitted in and out of his head, each confusing him more than the last. It was like how he imagined standing at the eye of a storm would be, watching everything around you shredded. It was still and silent, an abyss that was swallowing him. So many doubts and questions and theories. So many things he didn't understand. And a hand on his shoulder, warm and comforting…he snapped awake and the warmth disappeared. He was staring up at the concerned eyes of the Sandaime.

"Are you okay, Naruto-kun?"

"I'm just fine, Sandaime-sama. Did you need anything?"

"Sandaime-sama?"

"What? That's your title, is it not?"

"What happened to 'Jiji'?"

"I wonder the same thing. What happened to 'Jiji'?"

"What do you mean? I'm still the same person…" He would never admit it outwardly, but Sarutobi was very hurt by his surrogate grandson addressing him formally.

"Are you? I suppose I just didn't see that person then, because the Jiji I know would not betray me."

"Betray you?"

"Yeah, my Jiji would not go behind my back with something as important as that." Sarutobi was beginning to have a sneaking suspicion as to what this was about, but still he asked another question.

"What is this you're talking about? Did something happen?"

"No. Nothing happened at all."

"Are you alright?"

"Oh, so you want me to lose my cool? I was trying to act like a calm and professional person, but you're really pushing it now. You expect me to be alright right now? You expect me to treat you normally? You told me you believed in me, that you believed I would be Hokage! How'm I gonna be Hokage if I can't even be a ninja? How'm I gonna find other people who believe in me if I don't even have a single one! And you still expect me to call you Jiji?"

"Naruto-kun, how do you know about the Academy? I was just coming to tell you."

"You did ask me to come and turn in my Academy application. Did you not wonder at all why I didn't?! Do you pay any real attention to me or is it all a lie?"

"Naruto-kun!"

"No! You know what, I don't care what you think of me. I'm gonna prove you wrong. I'm not a demon or whatever, I'm Uzumaki Naruto and I'm gonna be a better Hokage then you ever were! And I'm gonna do it without the stupid Academy! I don't need your help or anyone else's! I'll do it alone, just me and my skill. You can even have your stupid journals back. I don't need them anymore!" Sarutobi grimaced at the anger in Naruto's voice. 'Oh dear, I should've put up the sound barriers. I better fix this.'

"Naruto-kun…"

"I don't want to hear it! I don't care how many excuses you have, I thought you would've stood up for me!"

"I was just going to say you can still keep the journals, even if you're mad at me that doesn't mean you can't still learn from the other Hokages."

"I said I don't want your help!"

"Naruto-kun, I…"

"Save it! I don't want to be tricked by you right now!"

"Naruto-kun, please hear me out!"

"Fine. What are you trying to say?"

"Naruto-kun, I'm sorry. I wanted them to try and accept you, but they are set in their ways. Civilian students make up about 3/4 of the Academy students. It would be bad for the village if we lost that many students because of one student. You want to be Hokage, right? Sometimes a Hokage has to make difficult choices like that. I don't need you to forgive me, but I need you to calm down and not let your anger guide you. Please keep the journals."

"Ok. I understand, but that doesn't mean I forgive you just yet. I'll keep the journals, but I want you to leave. And don't come back. I'll show you all I can do this myself. "

"Naruto-kun, you need to understand that trying to do everything alone will not help you. You may not be allowed to attend the Academy, but I can give you some scrolls to start you off learning and allow you to take the graduation exam in four years."

"Thank you," Naruto replied stiffly, "I'll need everything the Academy teaches and more, though, if you want to make it up to me. And maybe some tutors, too," he finished with a slight chuckle.

"Now you just want to exploit me to get resources."

"Possibly. Maybe I'm still a little mad."

* * *

A/N: Kon'nichiwa, minna! From the results of my poll (so far, you can still go and vote!), Protector and Sage's Apprentice are the stories you all most want to read! And so, per requests, here is the first chapter of SA! I'm very excited to be sharing this story with you all, since I really love writing it. I hope you enjoy!


	2. Intro - The Test

5:50.  
12-year-old Naruto Uzumaki groaned as he groggily rubbed his eyes.

"Damned alarm clock! I don't have to be at the exam until 8:30." He shoved his sheets off and stumbled into the kitchen, falling into the single chair. He quickly created a Kage Bunshin - something he'd learned from Jiji-sama when they found he had too much chakra for normal clones - and lay his head on the table. The clone set about making breakfast, a simple egg and toast affair. Naruto had never really been an exceptional cook, and his clones were no different. When his meal was placed in front of him, Naruto dispelled his clone and ate quickly. There was no reason to waste the morning not training when he'd already woken up this early. When he was finished he dumped his dish in the sink, changed into his training clothes and ran out the door.  
He quickly made his way to Training Ground 17, the one Jiji-sama had reserved for him. Once there, he set down his small bag and began his morning workout. After the twentieth lap around the training ground, he dropped down for 75 push-ups and 75 sit-ups. He then did a short set of stretches, and practiced some Taijutsu kata. Feeling exhausted, he sat down, legs crossed, and began to absently spin a leaf around on his finger. He focused on the soothing blue chakra flowing through his fingers, commanding it with his will. He loved the soft swirl of it moving, the warmth it gave, and the feeling of energy and power it gave him. Slowly adding more leaves, Naruto began moving them in a slow, twirling dance on his finger tips. Experimentally, he tried pushing the leaves away from him, and found them blown across the clearing. Excited by this new discovery, he tried it with a small pebble, pulsing his chakra to blow it away. It flew, but not as far. Feeling disappointed, he picked up another pebble, this time channeling more chakra. The pebble flew across the clearing and embedded itself deep in a tree on the other side. Naruto smirked proudly, pulling out a kunai. He gathered his chakra in his fist and sent it out, letting the kunai go as he did so. The kunai shot through the tree it was aimed at and stuck in the one behind it. Satisfied, Naruto returned to his meditation. Not long after, he panicked, remembering the test he had later that day. He hopped up and sprinted towards the Academy, forgetting his small, navy blue school bag in his rush. He arrived at the Academy four minutes before the beginning of the test, grabbing the closest empty seat, right next to a grumpy-looking black-haired boy. Slumping in relief, Naruto let out a small smile. 'I've gotten faster!' he thought happily.  
At 8:29, two girls burst through the door, trying to shove each-other out of the way.

"Yes! I won! Take that Ino-pig!" the one with pink hair screamed.

"No you didn't, forehead! I was here a half-second before you!" the blonde retorted. Naruto sighed loudly, placing his head on his desk. The two girls turned towards him.

"What was tha…Wait! What are you doing sitting next to Sasuke-kun? That's my seat!" said the pink-haired girl, suddenly right next to him.

"Yeah! Wait! No you don't! It's my spot!" the blonde cried, also suddenly standing next him.

"I don't see a name-tag," Naruto retorted coolly, forgetting his manners for a moment. To fix his mistake, he immediately added, "besides, if I sit here you two don't have to fight over it."

"That's not the point! I want to be next to Sasuke-kun!" shouted Blondie.

"Yeah! Me too!" Pinkie added.

"Yeah, who are you, anyway?" Blondie asked.

"Ah, right, sorry. Nice to meet you, I'm Uzumaki Naruto. And you are?" Naruto replied, fidgeting nervously. Blondie huffed.

"Yamanaka Ino."

"And Pinkie?"

"Sakura. Haruno Sakura. Not Pinkie."

"Nice to meet you both. So, why do want to sit here so bad?"

"Sasuke-kun," they sighed, as if that explained everything.

"Is that the name of the guy next to me?" Naruto asked, shooting the boy a glance. He was studiously ignored. Naruto turned back to the girls, "He seems kinda grumpy, if you asked me," Naruto replied obliviously. Their faces darkened.

"Don't insult Sasuke-kun! Who do you think you are anyway?" Sakura yelled.

"Sorry, sorry. It wasn't an insult, anyway, I merely pointing out his mood, I know nothing about his personality."

"Oh, okay. Still, be nicer to him! So why are you here, anyway?" Sakura asked, calming down.

"I'm taking the Genin Exams. You?" Sakura was about to answer when the dark-haired boy - Sasuke - cut in.

"The Genin Exams? But you weren't in the Academy."

"I guess you could call me a special case. I trained outside of the Academy but am allowed to take the Exam."

"Hn."

"I take it you aren't the most talkative," Naruto responded sarcastically.

"Hn."

"So, do you want me to move and let Sakura-san and Ino-san sit?"

"No."

"Huh? Why on earth not?"

"I don't need drooling fangirls holding me back. At least you have some sense." The girls looked ashamed, staring resolutely at the ground with dark blushes on their cheeks.

"Man, Sasuke-san, that's cold," Naruto responded.

"Hn."

"Sorry, Sakura-san, Ino-san. Sasuke-san doesn't seem to want you to sit here, and there's only one seat anyway, so you can't both sit. Good luck with the Exam, though," Naruto said politely, before returning his attention to the front of the classroom, where a dark-haired Chuunin was attempting to gain the attention of the rest of the students. Sakura and Ino sighed but turned and took seats in the next row up.

"Excuse me!" shouted the Chuunin. All the heads snapped towards him. He smiled slightly and continued speaking. "Today is the day you have all been working towards, the day of your Genin Exams! I wish you all luck. Now if you would all follow me outside, we will begin the Taijutsu portion of the Exam." The kids all jumped from their desks and followed after the Chuunin, leaving Naruto and Sasuke walking slowly behind them. They arrived at a rather large training ground behind the Academy and were told to line up, which they did. The first thing they were told to do was throw weapons and hit the targets. They were given 10 kunai and 10 shuriken, and had to hit 6 of each to pass. Most people barely got the required 6, while others got eight or nine. No one stood out to Naruto as he watched them all. He was near the end, as they were going in alphabetical order, and he got to see most of them. Sakura had gotten 7, and Ino hadn't gone yet, as her name was after his. The last person to go before him was Sasuke.

"Uchiha Sasuke," the instructor called. Naruto's eyes widened a fraction before they narrowed again. So that was the so-called generational prodigy and last of the Uchiha clan. It also explained the fangirls. Stepping up confidently, Sasuke grabbed 5 kunai in each hand and threw them simultaneously, landing 10 perfect hits. The girls swooned. He did the same with the shuriken and the girls cheered loudly. Sasuke simply smirked and returned to the line. Naruto scoffed, not that impressed by Sasuke. When you trained with the Hokage, things like that weren't impressive.

"Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto stepped forward and grabbed his kunai and shuriken. Jumping up in the air, he let fly six of the kunai, then performed a full spin, twirling the other 4 kunai before letting them go. He landed evenly on the ground, smirking as he surveyed the 10 perfect hits. He'd been practicing that combination for a few months and was very proud to have pulled it off. The instructors' jaws were on the ground.

"Just who is this kid?"

"How'd he get so good?"

"I don't know if I could have pulled that off perfectly when I wasn't even a Genin!"

Naruto swiftly pulled out his shuriken, reminding them that he wasn't done, and let them all go at once. They all hit perfectly. The instructors were very impressed. The other Genin hopefuls were jealous. And Sasuke, he was angry. As Naruto turned to rejoin the line, he noticed the dark-haired boy scowling at him and raised an eyebrow. Why was Sasuke angry with him?

"Yamanaka Ino, you're next," the instructor said. Ino stepped up, a little nervous after seeing the two people before her. She managed an 8.

The class then made their way to a chalked off circle in the middle of a small clearing to complete the Taijutsu section of their test. The students would be facing off against their instructors, having to last 5 minutes to pass. The names were once again called in alphabetical order, and once again the majority of students barely got their required 5 minutes; some even failed. Naruto was beginning to grow extremely bored, not feeling at all impressed with any of his fellow aspiring Genin. Jiji-sama had told him there would be tough competition, but he was beginning to seriously doubt it. The only person he thought might actually stand a chance against him was Sasuke-san, and even that was a maybe. He knew he was being arrogant, but he also knew it was probably true, however disappointing. He also knew, however, that no one was invincible and that underestimating your opponents was sure to get you killed. And so he continued to observe the other Genin hopefuls, looking for any skills that stood out. Besides a timid Hyuuga who barely lasted enough time because she was afraid to be aggressive, a lazy Nara (no surprise there) who forfeit after exactly 5 minutes, and a loud-mouthed Inuzuka who got himself in a lot of bad situations, no one really stood out. Actually, if he thought about it, the three who stood out didn't necessarily stand out for good reasons. He was a bit disappointed in Sakura's Taijutsu, and had yet to see Sasuke's or Ino's. He sighed, Jiji-sama had greatly overestimated the skills of this class. Sure, some of them had a lot potential, but they were nowhere near fulfilling it yet, and that frustrated him. There were all these young ninja with potential, and yet they seemed to teach them absolutely nothing at the Academy. All of the test-takers without clans were somewhat pathetic, and that made Naruto both angry and sad. Was the world really that divided, that biased? And his frustration, anger, and sadness strengthened his resolve to do the best he could. He would prove to them that a clanless orphan could be just as good as any pampered clan kid. And then…

"…maki Naruto, this is the last we're going to call." The instructor sounded annoyed. Naruto jumped and rushed forward, apologizing over and over. The instructor waved him off and told him to begin. He quickly took stock of his opponent-a slim, young Chuunin with white hair-and began to run in circles around him, fast enough to be impressive but slow enough that a Chuunin could easily keep track of him. As he expected, the Chuunin's eyes kept pace with him, measuring his speed and comparing it with his own. He saw the beginning of a smirk on the Chuunin's face as he figured out that he was faster than him. He saw the other would-be Genin trying to follow him and looking lost. He saw the Chuunin's stance begin to shift into an offensive one, and the moment there was a hole in his guard, Naruto was there with a swift punch. The Chuunin's eyes widened as he realized that Naruto had lulled him into a false sense of security and made him lower his guard before coming in to strike. Before he fully realized what was happening, the Chuunin was falling to his knees, doubled over.

"Never underestimate your opponent, no matter who they are," was the last thing Mizuki heard before slipping into unconsciousness. Naruto smirked just a little before picking up the defeated Chuunin and bringing him back over to the side of the circle.

"I suppose I didn't really have to knock him out…" Naruto said as an afterthought. Everyone was too busy being surprised to care. Returning to the sea of students, Naruto saw Sasuke once again glaring in his direction. Naruto shot him a confused look before looking back to where Ino was struggling against a brown-haired Chuunin.  
Naruto also found the written and Ninjutsu exams very easy, and also even more boring, since he didn't get to see how his peers performed on them. The instructors were quite impressed when he performed the Kage Bunshin, as well as his perfect Henge and Kawarimi, but he was not excited. That was, not until they told him he had passed. His face instantly lit up, and he pumped his fist in the air in excitement. Sure, he figured he was good enough to pass, especially after seeing the performances of the others, but it hadn't felt real until now. He reverently picked up a black-clothed hitai-ate and gazed at it for a couple seconds before tying it tightly around his head. A small smile formed on his face as he got used to the comforting weight on his forehead. And the smile widened as he walked proudly out of the examining room.  
As Naruto walked towards the classroom door, intending to leave and visit the Hokage tower, he was interrupted by Sasuke.

"Oh! Hey Sasuke-san, what's up?"

"How did you get so strong?"

"Training. Duh."

"That's not what I mean! I mean who trained you?"

"Uh, mainly myself and a lot of library books, but I got a few lessons and tips from the Hokage and some ANBU as well."

"What?!"

"What's wrong, Sasuke-san?"

"What do you mean what's wrong? How'd you get trained by the Hokage?"

"Uh, I asked? And he didn't really train me, just helped me through tough spots and pointed me in new directions. Mostly I studied books and scrolls and practiced the exercises."

"So you basically got that strong on your own?"

"I guess you could say that. I wouldn't though. Like I said, I got help from Hokage-sama, and I got some help from a nice ANBU called Inu, too."

"Hn. I suppose that's somewhat impressive."

"The same to you. That was some great accuracy."

"Hn."

"Later, Sasuke-san. I have to go."

"Hn."

* * *

Jiraiya wandered happily through a group of training grounds, heading to small stream on the opposite side, an old favorite research place. After being gone for almost a decade, he was taking his time enjoying the scenery, including a few extremely fit Kunoichi practicing in Training Ground 14. As he wound his way through the trees separating Training Ground 16 from Training Ground 17, he came across a kunai wedged into a tree. Now, this in-and-of-itself was not a strange thing, especially not in a ninja training ground. The strange part was that the kunai shouldn't have been able to be sticking into that side of the tree, due to the other tree not even a foot away, unless…Deciding to investigate further, Jiraiya approached the kunai and tree. When he drew close, he noticed the kunai-sized hole straight through the second tree. It aligned perfectly with the wedged kunai. Jiraiya's eyes widened as he followed the trajectory of the kunai backwards to a small clearing a little further into Training Ground 17. Curiosity egging him on, Jiraiya walked towards the clearing. He was somewhat confused. Although many experienced ninja could throw kunai through trees, Jonin and ANBU normally avoided Training Grounds 1-20, not wanting to endanger lower-ranking ninja. And there-in lay the problem. What Genin or Chuunin was good enough to be able to accomplish this? When he spotted a small, navy blue bag lying under a tree on the other side of the clearing, his spy-master instincts kicked in and he approached it cautiously. When he reached it without encountering a single trap, and saw none attached, he deemed it safe enough to open, which he did. Inside were a series of books on Fuinjutsu and chakra theory, a couple of blank scrolls, some pens and pencils, a set of kunai and shuriken, a spool of ninja wire, and a small white card. Everything looked exactly like the supplies required for a fourth-year Academy student, but…what Academy student could do that? He reached in and plucked out the white card, turning it over in his hand. What he saw was a small portrait of a blonde boy with whisker marks, the name 'Uzumaki Naruto', and the words 'Konoha Public Library'. So it was a library card. A library card for his godson. He froze, staring blankly at the small white card. The small white card that had just turned his world upside-down.

"Naruto…Oh Kami, Naruto, I'm so sorry. I was never there for you, but…it seems you've become a strong ninja on your own. I guess it's time for you to meet your godfather…"

A/N: Once again I am really late with the update! It seems I'm making a bad habit of that... Gomen, minna. Anyway, here is Chapter 2 of Sage's Apprentice! I hope you enjoy, and please leave a review if you have questions/comments/criticism/ideas etc!


	3. Intro - Toad and Fox

Naruto arrived at the Hokage Tower only slightly out of breath. He'd been at Ichiraku's grabbing a bite to eat before going to see Jiji-sama when an ANBU had come to tell him he was needed in the Hokage's tower as soon as possible. Deciding not to question the need of his presence, he had sprinted over. Now, he stood before the intimidating oaken door that led to his Jiji's office. He knocked lightly on the door and was told to enter. He slowly opened the door, giving a small nod to the two ANBU standing guard.

"So, what urgent business do you have for me, Hokage-sama?" Naruto asked, making sure to address the Hokage formally in the presence of others.

"It's good to see you, Naruto-kun. You have a visitor."

"A visitor? Um, who is it?"

"Jiraiya, you can come out now," Sarutobi called to a shadow behind him which Naruto had assumed was an ANBU.

"Jiraiya? As in the Toad Sage?" Naruto asked, eyes wide.

"The one and only! I'm glad you've heard of me, Naruto!"

"Umm, it's hard not to, you're pretty famous…"

"Ah, right."

"So, why did you want to see me?"

"Oh, I happened across your kunai and bag in Training Ground 17 as I was passing through."

"Right! I completely forgot I left my stuff there! But how did you know it was mine?"

"Easy! This," Jiraiya said, holding out Naruto's library card.

"Damned forgetfulness! That was really stupid."

"Don't beat yourself up, Naruto-kun, everyone makes mistakes. Jiraiya used to be quite forgetful, too, actually," Sarutobi stated, smiling.

"He was?" Naruto asked, looking back and forth between Sarutobi and Jiraiya.

"Ack! Sensei!"

"You also need to get used to making mistakes," Sarutobi admonished. Jiraiya immediately deflated. Naruto stood there awkwardly before he remembered why Jiraiya was here.

"So, why did my kunai make you want to meet me?"

"Huh?"

"You said that you happened across my kunai and that's why you wanted to meet me. So, why did seeing my kunai make you want to meet me?"

"What do you mean why did seeing your kunai make me want to meet you? Do you have any idea how few ninja below the rank of Jonin can throw kunai through trees?"

"That's rare? All I did was add a bit of chakra into the throw."

"Geez kid, for a genius you're pretty oblivious. That takes a lot of chakra and fairly advanced control, too."

"Oh. I was just experimenting. I was spinning leaves and decided to try and blow them away, which I did, and then I tried it with a pebble, which took more chakra but embedded itself in a tree, and so I tried it with a kunai, and you saw what that did. It was actually pretty simple," Naruto stated, oblivious to the stares he was getting from not just Sarutobi and Jiraiya, but also the ANBU. Jiraiya stood in shocked silence for a couple minutes before speaking again.

"You mean you didn't learn that from a book on chakra manipulation or anything? You just…did it?"

"Yeah…is that a bad thing?"

"No! That's crazy impressive! So, Naruto, have you learned how to climb trees yet?"

"I've known how to climb trees since before I started training. Why?"

"No, no, no! I mean, with chakra."

"Using chakra? Oh, you mean what ninja use to run up walls?"

"Yeah, that."

"No, I don't know how to do that yet, well, not beyond theory, that is."

"Can you try?"

"In here? Are you sure Hokage-sama would appreciate that in his office?"

"It's alright, Naruto-kun. I don't mind," Sarutobi assured.

"Okay, I can try. One sec…" Naruto created ten Kage Bunshin and they all proceeded to try to climb up the walls. Some clones made it farther than others, and Naruto dispelled those and replaced them. After 15 minutes, Naruto dispelled all his clones and walked all the way up the wall and across the ceiling shakily.

"Whoa, this is gonna take same practice, but it's pretty fun. I think the best way to start is with a small amount of chakra, and to slowly increase it, that way you don't blast holes in what you're climbing. It's also helpful to keep a steady flow of chakra instead of re-molding it for every step. That way you can focus on other things too. Although, if you wanted to blast off something, putting too much chakra into your next step could work…That's kinda like blasting the leaves away…"

"Um, Naruto?"

"Yeah, Jiraiya-sama?"

"Are you sure you've never done this before?"

"Yep, positive. But I did watch lots of other ninja do it, and read about it in quite a few books on chakra control exercises."

"And you just…"

"I had clones trying all sorts of different methods, and dispelled the ones that found the best methods, so the other clones and myself could try those, and then continued that process until one of the clones could do it right. Then I dispelled them all and did it myself. That way I don't get hurt if I mess up, and I learn faster," Naruto stated. The room was completely silent.

"That's pretty smart," Jiraiya said, more to himself than the room. Naruto smiled.

"It feels pretty good to have your skills praised by a legendary ninja, 'ttebayo," Naruto said happily. Jiraiya nodded absently as he continued to think himself. Naruto sighed exaggeratedly.

"And it's also insulting to be ignored by someone, even if they are a legendary ninja," Naruto said, only half joking.

Jiraiya began apologizing, saying he was impressed, and somewhat speechless. "I was just wondering…how would you like to be my apprentice?" Jiraiya asked dramatically. Both Naruto and Sarutobi gaped.

"Uh, Hokage-sama, am I supposed to be on a Genin Team?" Naruto questioned, recovering.

"I don't think the civilian council wanted you on one, something about not being at the Academy and bonding with peers… or something."

"What? But it's their fault I wasn't at the Academy! That's ridiculous!"

"I know, Naruto-kun, I know. I'm sorry."

"Eh, no need to apologize! Now I'm free to be the apprentice of one of the legendary Sannin, so I suppose I should thank them."

"I take that as a yes to being my apprentice, then?" Jiraiya cut in.

"You bet, 'ttebayo!"

"I'm glad to hear it! Okay, tomorrow I'll assess your skills, and the next day we'll leave!"

"Leave?"

"Yep, we're going traveling!"

"Okay. So where are we going, Jiraiya-sensei?" Naruto asked happily. Jiraiya smiled fondly.

"All over, eventually, but this time we will be heading to the ruins of Uzushiogakure, your clan's village."

"My clan had their own village? I thought the Uzumakis were a small Konoha clan that had gone extinct a long time ago and they had just chosen the name for me."

"I suppose that's a valid assumption, but no, they had their own village. Unfortunately it was destroyed during the Second Great Ninja War. They were powerful Fuinjutsu users and were feared by many."

"So we're gonna visit the ruins? Why?"

"Well, you're an Uzumaki, so you should be able to learn a lot about Fuinjutsu from their scrolls. I saw you were learning the basics from the books in your bag."

"I forgot you had that. Yeah, I'm learning what I can, but our village isn't really well-versed in it. The only good books I could find on it were by you and Yondaime-sama, and even those were mainly about the basics. There was one by a lady called Uzumaki Kushina, but that was really advanced and went way over my head. I couldn't find any intermediate level guides or anything!"

"I see, well you should find what you need in Uzushiogakure. I expect you at Training Ground 17 at 7:00 tomorrow."

"Hai, Jiraiya-sensei. Thanks, by the way."

"Oh, no problem. I'll see you then, Gaki." With that, Jiraiya disappeared.

"See ya, Jiji-sama!"

"Good luck, Naruto-kun," Sarutobi replied.

Naruto was at Training Ground 17 at 6:43 the next day. He sat down in the shade of a tall tree at the edge of the training ground, legs crossed. He startled when Jiraiya dumped a bucket of freezing water on him.

"Now's not the time to be sleeping, Gaki."

"Not sleeping, meditating, Jiraiya-sensei," Naruto replied, annoyed.

"Ahh..hehehe, sorry Naruto."

"It's alright. So, what are we doing today?"

"We're going to spar. All you have to do to impress me is land one hit on me."

"That sounds too simple. Either you're going to go all out and make this really hard, or there's a catch. I'm guessing it's the second, cause there's no way I could land a hit on you if you went all out."

"Smart, Gaki. Yep, there's a catch. You can only use a total of 6 different jutsu and 10 different Taijutsu moves for the course of the spar. You may, of course, reuse them, but not different ones, so choose them carefully. I will, of course, have the same handicap."

"That sounds like more of a handicap for me, since you know more powerful techniques and have more experience. Oh well, I'll do it anyway, I've never been one to back away from a challenge. Tell me when to begin," Naruto responded evenly. Jiraiya smirked.

"Begin." As soon as Jiraiya said it, Naruto jumped forward. Jiraiya sent a powerful punch at Naruto's wide-open chest, but connected instead with a log. The log, which Jiraiya realized too late was covered in explosive tags, exploded in Jiraiya's face, forcing him to use a Kawarimi of his own. From a tree on the other side of the clearing, Naruto smirked. 'So he fell for it. I forced him to waste two moves on simple things, like a direct punch and a Kawarimi, while only using Kawarimi myself. Even better, since I have a smaller arsenal of jutsu, something like Kawarimi is more useful. I'll probably have to use Kage Bunshin at one point, and Henge. That's just the basics, though. I suppose I could use the Bunshin Daibakuha, that could work as firepower. Otherwise, kunai, shuriken, ninja wire, and explosive tags are best, since I can use as many as I want. So maybe Kunai Kage Bunshin, to preserve weapons. What about gravity seals? He didn't say anything about a limit on seals. I'll use the mud wall for defense, since I'm pretty sure Jiraiya-sensei's not a Lightning user. That's all six jutsu, then. I'll use Taijutsu as I need it, I can't exactly plan ahead with that, which leaves actually fighting. Okay Jiraiya-sensei, prepare yourself.' Naruto crept silently along the tree branches, keeping his senses extended in a 5 ft. radius to predict attacks. When he spotted Jiraiya sitting seemingly asleep under a tree, he was immediately alert. Creating a Kage Bunshin, he sent it to the opposite side of Jiraiya and both threw a single kunai at the dozing Sannin. Expectedly, he deflected both and stood up, looking between the two directions.

"I see you found me, Naruto. Did you really think that I would get hit with those kunai?"

"No," both Narutos spoke at once, "but it was a good way to get you to stop pretending to sleep."

"I see. So, which one is the real one?"

"A Kage Bunshin has the exact same chakra capacity as the original, so there's no way to find out but to attack," both Naruto's said, at the same time.

"Alright Naruto, I'll play your game." Jiraiya disappeared and reappeared next to the original Naruto. Naruto quickly used Kawarimi to escape, avoiding a Taijutsu match in which Jiraiya would have superior speed and strength. 'So he's using shun-shin. I'll have to be careful.' Simultaneously creating a smokeless Kage Bunshin and using Henge to transform himself into a kunai, Naruto began planning. 'I'll create ten clones already Henged as kunai, and have the clone he thinks is me throw them at him. Then, when they get close, five can explode and the other five can engage him in Taijutsu. Every time he hits them, they'll explode, all except one reinforced one, which he'll think is me. While he's occupied with the exploding clones, my eleventh clone, which he won't think is me anymore and will probably ignore, can sneak up and stick a gravity seal on him. That will leave me an opening to land a hit.'  
Satisfied with his plan, Naruto created ten kunai clones, which his human-formed clone proceeded to throw at Jiraiya all at once. Jiraiya easily deflected them, but as soon as the first five were hit by his kunai, they exploded. He jumped upwards to avoid the explosion, but the other five clones transformed back into their human form and followed him up. He fought them all fairly easily, but had a hard time avoiding all the explosions from when he hit them. The four exploding clones were constantly replaced by the fifth, reinforced clone. With everything going according to plan, Naruto sent his eleventh clone to sneak up with the gravity seal. The reinforced clone created only three new clones the next time, and the gravity seal-wielding clone joined them. Naruto waited nervously for the signal from his clone, but was disappointed when Jiraiya used a shun-shin to move to the ground and speared the attacking clones with earth spears. The reinforced clone then jumped forward to engage Jiraiya, but was quickly disposed of. Naruto mentally cursed, but remained hidden. If he could keep Jiraiya guessing where he was, he could maintain the element of surprise.  
Even this hope was dashed, however, when he saw Jiraiya walking purposefully towards him. He created a human clone above him, hoping it would at least distract Jiraiya for a little while he set up kunai traps and spread his ninja wire and explosive notes. Naruto's clone created yet more clones, allowing the real Naruto to come out of hiding and sneak away. The clone sent barrages of kunai and shuriken, duplicated through Kunai Kage Bunshin, and also multiple kunai bearing explosive notes mixed in with the rest. Multiple Kage Bunshin advanced on Jiraiya, once again engaging him in Taijutsu and exploding. Jiraiya dodged it all with practiced ease, throwing his own kunai in the openings. The Naruto clone was forced to reveal it's last jutsu, mud wall, to defend against a large barrage of kunai, and Naruto became frustrated. Jiraiya had used three jutsu while he had used six, and Jiraiya was still easily able to avoid everything he threw at him.  
The clone had, however, allowed him enough time to place his traps. He had littered the clearing and forest with ninja wire, kunai and shuriken traps, explosive notes, and hidden gravity seals on the ground in the places Jiraiya would dodge to. Hopefully it would give him a chance. Taking the place of his clone behind the mud wall, Naruto began strategically leading Jiraiya towards his field of traps without being too obvious, or so he hoped. He and his clones pressed in on Jiraiya, exploding on three sides of him or throwing a couple hundred kunai at once, using Kawarimi to escape if they were caught in the cross-fire. They slowly but surely steered the battle towards the area filled with traps. Dispelling the majority of his clones to avoid setting off traps himself, Naruto and his four remaining clones continued to assault Jiraiya. Jiraiya wove in and out of the attacks, using Kawarimi and shun-shin to avoid attacks, and erecting mud walls when there was nowhere to dodge to. The thing that impressed Naruto, however, was the fact that he had avoided all the traps, even in the heat of battle.  
Beginning to feel desperate, Naruto attached ninja wire to his kunai and threw them in a criss-cross pattern before duplicating them, creating a web of sorts. He was eventually able to create a thin corridor for him and Jiraiya to fight in, giving him the advantage of his small size. When Jiraiya was still able to avoid his attacks and traps, he began aiming kunai to trigger traps near Jiraiya while still attacking him directly. He could see Jiraiya slowly becoming more pressed as he continuously had to dodge blows and traps from all directions, while also becoming tired and low on chakra from fighting non-stop for so long. Naruto himself was beginning to feel slightly tired from creating so many exploding Kage Bunshin - which took more chakra than the regular kind - but he was nowhere near as tired as Jiraiya looked. As time passed and Naruto continued triggering traps and sending waves of kunai with and without explosive notes, Jiraiya's dodges grew steadily sloppier and he began to sustain more and more thin scratches. When he looked thoroughly worn out, Naruto risked going in for a bout of Taijutsu, slowly guiding Jiraiya towards where he knew a gravity seal was placed.  
When they got close, however, Jiraiya regained a small bit of energy and landed a hard punch on his chest, using the opportunity to jump away. Naruto wheezed, the wind knocked out of him. He had known Taijutsu was a risk, but that punch was even harder than he expected. After 20 seconds of ragged breathing, Naruto straightened up and surveyed the area for his sensei. Not finding him anywhere, he walked the rest of the way to the gravity seal, being careful not to trigger it. He waited, panic creeping in when his sensei didn't appear. Then, with no warning whatsoever, his sensei was in front of him throwing another powerful punch. He dodged to the side and down, letting his sensei's arm pass him by, and used his tenth and final Taijutsu move. He slipped inside his sensei's guard, feinting a punch to the chin and slamming his other hand into his sensei's gut. He should've known it was too easy, because the next thing he knew, there was a massive explosion in his face. He managed to roll out of the way at the last minute, but he felt the heat and saw the edge of his clothes singed. Cursing his overconfidence, Naruto assessed his situation. Most of his traps had already been triggered and he was outclassed in Taijutsu. His sensei was able to avoid most of his exploding Kage Bunshin and kunai, and block almost all the rest. He didn't know how much longer he could spam clones either, and he didn't like the chances of them actually hitting his sensei. He couldn't use more advanced Ninjutsu or Taijutsu techniques because he didn't know that many and he had used his choices up anyway. He checked his weapons pouch. He was also getting low on tools because he had been throwing them all over. He sighed, he was pretty sure he had no chance to land a hit on his sensei, let alone win the spar, and his sensei hadn't even really done anything, just avoided everything. If his sensei had been going all out offensive, he would have been flattened in under a minute. It really had been a mistake to get impatient and go in for Taijutsu. If he had waited, he might have been able to…no. He'd done what he'd done and, mistake or not, he had to work with it. He wasn't going to give up, not now. What if he tried to overwhelm him with speed? No, Jiraiya was probably faster. Unless…what about the chakra thrusting that he had learned yesterday? That wasn't ninjutsu, just chakra control. If he used it the right way…yeah, he could do this.  
Finding a new burst of energy from his determination, Naruto extended his senses as far as he could, sensing Jiraiya at the edge of the clearing they had started in. Naruto suppressed his chakra as much as he could and hurried in his sensei's direction. When he was within 10 feet, he readied a kunai and sent it flying at Jiraiya, enhancing it's speed with chakra and duplicating it ten times. He then boosted his own speed by sending bursts of chakra out of his feet and arrived with the kunai, landing a solid punch on his sensei's side. Or he thought he did, until he was face-to-face with a log. He hastily flipped backwards to avoid any traps on the log and reassessed the terrain. He didn't see his sensei anywhere. He once again extended his senses as far as they would go, once again sensing his sensei, a bit farther away than last time.  
He scowled darkly. 'So that's how he wants to play, leading me around? Okay, sensei, ready or not, here I come.' And with that, Naruto was shooting off through the training ground, faster than he was before. He arrived in front of Jiraiya, kunai ready. The kunai flew, hitting it's target on the arm, followed up by a punch from Naruto. Naruto was once again face-to-face with a log. Scowling more, Naruto extended his senses again, sensing Jiraiya just a little bit further than before. It was then that he noticed it. Jiraiya wasn't toying with him, he was training him. Each time he was pushing Naruto to move just a little faster, sense just a little further. Naruto smirked lightly and ran off again pushing himself to increase his speed with each step. He honed in on Jiraiya, his vision tunneling slightly as he ran faster and faster, constantly channeling chakra into his legs. Before he knew it, he was there in front of his sensei, throwing a vicious punch. He hit Jiraiya squarely in the face.

A/N: Aaaand... Cut! Hope the cliffhanger ending doesn't bother you too much because, unfortunately, this is the last of my pre-written chapters and it'll probably be a while until the next one. This one was kinda quick to make up for it... maybe... I hope... Anyway, enjoy!


	4. Journey - Trials

It was late afternoon and Hiruzen was exhausted. It seemed this was a more and more regular occurrence as of late. 'I really might be too old for this job…' Hiruzen thought regretfully. He glanced up briefly as he heard his window open, sighing when he realized it was only Jiraiya.

"Jiraiya, must you always come in through the window?" he asked, turning back to his paperwork.

"Sorry, sensei. Old habit," Jiraiya said, climbing fully into the office and shutting the window behind him.

"No matter. Now then, what brings you here?" Hiruzen questioned, signing the last of a stack of papers and looking up to meet Jiraiya's eyes. The sunlight shifted with the passing of clouds, illuminating different parts of the room.

"Naruto… who trained him?"

"Kakashi, Yugao, and I did. Why? Is something wrong?" Hiruzen asked, worried. Yet another problem.

"No no," Jiraiya said, moving to sit down, "I was just curious. I mean, he's even better than I expected him to be. Clever gaki."

"I see. What happened?" Hiruzen folded his hands on the table and leaned forward slightly.

"I told him to land a hit on me. We both had a handicap, of course. Six jutsu and ten taijutsu moves. And the gaki really pulled it off! I didn't actually expect him to, I was just getting a sense of his skills first hand, but he went and did it. Of course, I wasn't going anywhere near all out or anything, but seriously, that kid packs a punch!" He rubbed his cheek for emphasis. Hiruzen, instead of being impressed, glared at Jiraiya.

"Did you tell him it was just to gauge his skills?" Hiruzen asked pointedly.

"Of course not! I needed him to go all out, so I told him I would find another apprentice if he failed," Jiraiya stated, oblivious to the darkening of the old Hokage's face.

"Jiraiya. You really threatened him like that?" Hiruzen stated in an even tone, but Jiraiya felt the dangerous edge to it.

"Um… yes?" he replied, flinching back from the Sandaime's gaze.

"No wonder he pulled it off. You have no idea how excited that kid was, how much being trained by the sensei of the Yondaime Hokage meant to him. How dare you threaten him like that when you have no idea what he's been through?" Hiruzen demanded, standing and slamming his hands on the desk.

"S-sorry. I had no idea, I thought he would realize…" Jiraiya placated, hands waving wildly in front of his face. Hiruzen deflated like a punctured balloon, sinking onto his chair looking ten years older.

"Sorry, Jiraiya. I'm in no place to criticize. It's partially my fault that the boy has such a hard time trusting people. I just… I don't like to see that boy hurt," Hiruzen sighed, looking down at his worn wooden desk. Jiraiya nodded sadly.

"Yeah, the boy's been hurt enough. I'll apologize when I see him again," Jiraiya agreed. Hiruzen smiled then, all hints of anger gone from his voice.

"So, what stood out to you from his performance?" Hiruzen questioned, dipping his pen in ink and readying a scroll to take notes. Jiraiya leaned back in his chair, hands behind his head.

"The gaki's clever, adaptable, creative, talented… he used only basic jutsu, but he used them efficiently and played to his skills, as well as showing impressive ability with ranged weapons and traps. His gravity seals were self-made, and well-done at that. He's really stubborn and a quick learner. He certainly has potential. Unfortunately, he's also a reckless, smart-ass brat with more chakra than he knows what to do with and only mediocre control over it. That and he can be totally clueless about the most basic of things. One thing I know for certain: Naruto never has been and never will be normal," Jiraiya finished with a chuckle. Hiruzen laughed along, placing his pen down and blowing on the freshly-inked scroll before rolling it up.

"Yeah, that's one thing you can count on. Naruto's always had a knack for doing what you least expect." Teacher and student shared a grin before Jiraiya stood up and made his way towards the window.

"Later, sensei," he said over his shoulder before jumping out.

* * *

Team 7, consisting of Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and Shiraishi Hirohito, was about to go on its very first C-rank mission. Their reactions were, expectedly, different. Sasuke was confident. Sakura was nervous, but trying to hide it. Hirohito was excited, with a hint of nervousness around the edges. Kakashi had no idea why he'd passed this team. Even after his lessons, their teamwork was shaky at best, absolute crap at worst. And they had mediocre skills to boot. Sasuke had potential, but squandered it with his less-than-desirable attitude. Sakura also had potential, but squandered it with her obsession with Sasuke. Hirohito was probably the easiest to work with, what with his helpful attitude, his humbleness, and his easily excited nature. That didn't mean he was a good ninja. Far from it, in fact. Kakashi sighed. Why the Hokage was allowing them to go on a C-rank, he'd probably never understand. In his humble opinion, he should have failed this train-wreck of a team when he had the chance. He was definitely not looking forward to this.

"Alright, Team 7, I will now introduce your client," said the Sandaime, gesturing for an ANBU to open the waiting room door. A weathered old man with a red face and a tilted walk - drunk, Kakashi observed - entered the room, taking a swig from a flask in his hand as he stood before them.

"Waz dis? A coupl'a brats an'a lazy-lookin' ol' man? Whaddaya thinkin', Hokage-dono, I as'd fur purtection, not entatainmen'," the man slurred, looking the genin up and down. Kakashi released a small amount of KI, enough to frighten the civilian man, but not enough to make the ANBU wary. Their client cowered.

"I suggest you treat my team and I with more respect. We will, after all, be responsible for your life as we complete our mission," Kakashi threatened. The man nodded his head rapidly, all signs of drunkenness gone abruptly.

"Yes, I apologize for my previous behavior, I super misjudged you. I'm the super bridge-builder, Tazuna of Nami no Kuni. It's super nice to meet you!" the now-named Tazuna shouted, bowing exaggeratedly. The whole team groaned internally. This would be a long few weeks.

* * *

Metal clanged against metal, echoing as kunai and blade met again and again. The two jonin were blurs to the genin who watched from the sideline, desperately trying to keep up with the blows, even with just their eyes. They had feared Momochi Zabuza, demon of Kiri ever since he appeared before them, and that likely wouldn't change. He was fighting even their legendary sensei on even ground, and that terrified them more than any KI. They knew how strong their sensei was, they had had no chance against him together, let alone by themselves. And if Zabuza was that strong, what hope did they have?  
Sasuke growled, trying desperately to push the fear out of his head. He was the last Uchiha damnit, he was destined for greatness. No way was he going down here, in this nameless clearing, without taking his brother with him. He drew a kunai, struggling to control his shaking fingers, and waited.  
Sakura stood by Tazuna, knees wobbly and close to fainting. She watched as Sasuke drew a kunai, and drew one herself, not wanting to fall behind. She would protect their client and make Sasuke-kun proud! 'Cha!" her inner self agreed.  
Hirohito stood slightly to the right of Sakura and in front of her. He told himself that he was protecting her, but he knew deep down that he wouldn't amount to much when it came to protection. In reality, he was probably trying to stay out of the fight as much as possible. That thought scared him more than Zabuza did. He had lived all his life striving to be a truly kind person, strong enough to save people. He was neither kind nor strong, and that was terrifying to the brunette boy. He trembled head to toe and the kunai grasped tightly in his grip dropped to the ground. His eyes were wide as he watched his sensei combat the A-rank missing-nin. He wanted to be that strong, that brave, to be able to protect his comrades. That was all. And yet no matter how hard he tried, he always lost every fight he was in, bombed every test, and graduated the Academy as dead last. He had hoped his teammates would be supportive and kind, would help him improve, would be his friends. He wanted nothing but the best for them. He wanted to protect them, but they still shunned him, ignored him, put him down. He wanted to be a better person, he really did, but he couldn't help but resent them a little bit for how they treated him. Even so, he still strived to protect them, to be useful. He wasn't made to be a shinobi. He was queasy around blood, couldn't stomach killing or even seriously injuring an opponent unless they were threatening his friends or parents. He wasn't strong or smart. He really was useless. He couldn't even muster the courage to actually stand in front of his female teammate and protect her for real. He scrunched up his eyes, trying to will the wetness away before his teammates saw and laughed. He heard the sounds of battle stop abruptly and glanced up, finding his sensei trapped in a water prison. He nearly collapsed. His sensei was the only one who could hope to defeat Zabuza, they were all going to die. He couldn't protect them, he wasn't strong enough. Even Sasuke wasn't strong enough to beat Zabuza.

"Run! Get away from here!" Kakashi screamed, knowing the genin weren't prepared for a battle to the death against a jonin. Hirohito very nearly followed his orders. But at the last moment, as he was turning tail to run, he stopped. He couldn't run away. He'd promised he'd get stronger. He'd promised he'd protect them. If not now, then when? He turned back to his opponent, eyes growing serious, narrow. He charged straight in with a battle cry, because he had nothing better to do. He just barely dodged the Mizu Bunshin, getting a shallow slice across his back. Ignoring the stinging pain, he lunged at the real Zabuza as if to tackle him to the ground, then rolled between his legs while creating a clone where he had been and lunging at Zabuza from behind. The mizu bunshin called out a warning and Zabuza spun to meet his kunai strike, but in doing so moved his right arm, releasing Kakashi from the missing-nin's jutsu. Kakashi immediately shun-shined to Hirohito and threw him out of Zabuza's range, blocking the swing of the gargantuan sword with a single kunai. His headband was pushed up, revealing a wildly spinning crimson Sharingan, both his mismatched eyes narrowed in fury.

"Hurt my students and I'll kill you," Kakashi near-growled. He sped through hand-signs faster than even Zabuza could follow and shot strikes of lightning racing towards Zabuza, who managed to dodge, though just barely. He smirked as he regained his balance on the water, staring at Kakashi condescendingly. He realized too late that hitting him had never been Kakashi's goal, as electricity sparked through his body, conducted by the water. His limbs went numb and he struggled to maintain his chakra output and remain above the water. Kakashi gave him no time to recover before charging in and attacking ferociously with taijutsu. Zabuza shun-shined to shore, but could no longer move his arms and legs and collapsed on the dirt. Kakashi shun-shined next to him and prepared his Raikiri. Before he could strike, two senbon pierced the missing-nin's neck, instantly halting his breathing. All the genin gasped as small figure clad in blue and sporting a white mask appeared on a branch before jumping down next Zabuza's corpse.

"I thank you for weakening him for me. I have been chasing Zabuza for quite some time. Now if you'll excuse me, I will dispose of the body," the masked nin said, draping Zabuza's arm over his shoulder and shun-shining away. Sakura's eyes narrowed as the nin disappeared, vaguely remembering something from the Academy about hunter nin disposing of bodies on site. She stopped puzzling over it in her mind when Kakashi immediately collapsed from exhaustion, closing his Sharingan eye and pulling his headband back down over it. The three genin immediately jumped towards their sensei, worried looks on their faces. Sasuke was less concerned about his sensei's health than how on earth he obtained a Sharingan eye, but it was all the same in the end. The three surrounded their unconscious instructor and lifted him up, following Tazuna to his house.

* * *

_ From the darkness opened a huge, red eye. The eye was surrounded by a malevolent aura and was slowly but surely drawing him towards it. He felt it's darkness tugging at him until he was completely immersed in the eye. He saw a heavily panting Yondaime crouched next to a beautiful red-haired woman, a baby held between them. He saw a giant orange paw raise, straining against glowing chains, and stab a single claw through their backs. Then he felt himself pulled toward the child, his vision darkening. With a start, he realized it had been his claw that had pierced the two figures. And then everything went black._

Naruto's eyes snapped open and he sat bolt upright. Darkness. He fumbled with his covers and crashed onto the floor, then shakily stood and groped in the dark for the light switch on the other side of the room. The light snapped on and he sighed in relief, collapsing against the wall. He didn't sleep again that night, staring numbly at the walls of his empty room.

* * *

"Morning, Naruto!" Jiraiya called, jogging up to the young ninja, who was leaning against a wall near the village gate.

"Morning, sensei," Naruto replied softly, pushing off the wall and moving towards the gate's entrance, hands stuffed in his pockets and head down.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What's wrong?" Jiraiya ran up to Naruto, waving his hands in a panicked fashion, before stopping short a few feet away. "Wait, is this about yesterday? Oh kami, I'm sorry, Naruto. I didn't realize it would affect you so much."

"Yesterday? Oh right, the new apprentice threat. Yeah, that was a little mean. It's not a big deal, though."

"Eh? Then what's this about?"

"Nothing. Something. I don't know. It's not important," Naruto said quickly, looking away.

"Naruto, seriously. What happened?"

"It's really nothing. Just some dream."

"A dream?"

"Darkness, red eyes, screams, the usual nightmare stuff. Drop it." Naruto began to walk out of the gate, waving his hand dismissively. Jiraiya hesitated a second, staring at Naruto's retreating back in worry, before running to catch up.

"So, are you excited to see your clan's homeland?"

"Yeah, I guess," Naruto replied, giving Jiraiya a grateful look for letting go of the previous topic. Jiraiya smiled at him indulgently, but his mind was reeling. Why were the nightmares returning now?

* * *

A/N: Hello again, it's been a while. This is Ayame77 back with another chapter of SA, finally. It's short, but it's here, and I'll hopefully have another one up soon. No promises, though. Starting the first actual arc this chapter, so yay!

Reviews (and follows/favorites too!) are appreciated.

– Ayame77


	5. Journey - Strange Memories

The winds on the coast were rough, scattering browning petals and scraps of paper through the air. These winds smelled of salt and pine greenery, and the subtle scent of wet stone. They swirled restlessly throughout the small port town, ruffling curtains and causing wind chimes, newly hung for summer, to ring in unison through the narrow streets. Jiraiya, too, was restless, as he and Naruto walked hurriedly down the winding streets. Jiraiya was growing tired of pretending not to see the bags under his student's eyes, the way he grew tired after only two hours of walking, the heavy fear and exhaustion that seemed to cloud his features. Jiraiya had ignored it so far, for the sake of his student's pride, but it had been more than a week, and something was definitely wrong. Coming to a decision, Jiraiya stopped Naruto and pulled him into a small ramen stand across the road.

"I'll buy you whichever flavor you want," Jiraiya offered, but Naruto's eyes remained dull and he simply nodded and sat down. Jiraiya sighed. "Two miso with pork," Jiraiya called to the stall owner, before sitting down next to Naruto.

"Coming right up!" the stall owner shouted back, heading into the kitchen. Jiraiya turned to Naruto and addressed him quietly, causing Naruto to hum absently.

"Naruto," Jiraiya called again, "have you been having more nightmares?" Naruto looked away, grumbling something along the lines of 'shut up'. "Naruto, you need to tell me if something is wrong…"

"Nothing is wrong!"

The stall owner popped his head out of the kitchen worriedly. "Is everything okay? You were yelling…"

"Yes! Everything is is fine! I just said so, right? Everyone leave me the hell alone!"

"Naruto! Everything is not fine, not if you're having those nightmares again!"

"What makes you think I'm having nightmares?"

"Look," the stall owner cut in, " I don't mean to be rude, but if you're going to scream your lungs out, I'd appreciate if you did it well away from my stall. It's bad for business."

"I apologize for my student," Jiraiya said, bowing deeply and pushing Naruto's head down as well.

"It's not a problem, so long as you understand. Feel free to come back after you've sorted things out and have some of my ramen."

"Thank you very much." Jiraiya bowed one last time before ushering Naruto out of the ramen stand. They walked in stiff silence down the now quiet streets. At the end of the main road, they reached the sea cliffs, and Jiraiya sat Naruto down on one of the benches that were interspersed along the railing. "Now," Jiraiya started, sitting down beside Naruto, "you will tell me about the nightmares."

Naruto huffed angrily, turning his head away from Jiraiya and slouching against the back rest.

"I'm… not having nightmares."

"No? Then why do you wake up in the middle of the night panting, and then sit in a tree staring at the moon for the rest of the night?"

Naruto blushed and shrunk further into the bench. "You noticed?"

"Of course. What sort of mentor doesn't notice when his student is suffering?"

"…They're not nightmares. They're… more like memories."

"Memories?"

"I… I wake in darkness, and I can't see anything. Then, out of the dark, a red eye opens. I am slowly sucked into that eye, until I see what it sees. I see myself slaughtering villagers, children, and… and there are two people who are always there. A blond and a redhead. They have a kid, a really young one. And I kill them. Every time, without fail, I run gigantic claws through their bodies." Naruto shivered, hugging his legs and burying his face in them. "T-then… I'm… sucked into the child. And everything is black again. Sometimes there's more, sometimes less, but it always starts and ends the same way. I think… that it's a memory. And that's more terrifying than any nightmare. I'm a monster."

Jiraiya hesitantly placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, debating whether or not now was the right time to tell Naruto the truth about his past. Before he could decide one way or another, a toad popped into existence on his lap, a thin, sealed scroll strapped to it's back.

"Urgent message from the Hokage, Jiraiya."

"Thanks. Dismissed." The toad disappeared in a puff of orange and Jiraiya hastily scanned the document, then read it through once more, thoroughly. "We have a mission, Naruto," he said, pocketing the scroll and standing up, the previous conversation momentarily forgotten. Naruto lifted his head and followed his sensei, eyes blank and unfocused.

* * *

A/N: H-hey everyone. So, I've been gone a long time. Again. Please don't kill me? Here is a (very, very) short update to tide you all over until next week, when I will have a bigger update out! On a different (yet connected) note, I have some news for you all. I will be participating in WEBTOON's upcoming short story contest! I'll be posting the link to my first chapter with my next update, so please come take a look, like, and comment to support my story! I have been dreaming about becoming a manga/comic artist for a long time, so I'd really appreciate 15 minutes of your time. Thank you for your continued support of me and my story, and I wish you all the best in these strange times. As always, fave, follow and review, please! Stay safe, stay healthy, and enjoy your free time!  
– Ayame


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